Taiwan's former leader dehydrated over hunger strike

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian was hospitalized for dehydration Saturday, a hospital official said, after he went on a two-day hunger strike to protest his detention over graft charges.

Television footage showed police officers moving a pale-looking Chen, with his eyes closed, on a gurney into the Taipei County Hospital in Banciao in suburban Taipei.

Tucheng Detention Center -- where Chen has been held since November on corruption charges -- said in a statement that Chen was transferred to the hospital after he showed signs of dehydration Saturday morning. It said he refused water and solid food for two days.

The hospital's Deputy Superintendent Yang Chang-bin told reporters that Chen was suffering from "slight dehydration" but was conscious and had cooperated with medical staff.

Chen vowed earlier this week to go on a hunger strike to protest his detention. He previously went on two other hunger strikes in jail, but ended them after his wife and family pleaded with him to preserve his strength.

The 58-year-old Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen are standing trial on charges of embezzling NT$104 million ($3.15 million) while in power, receiving bribes worth at least $9 million in US currency in connection with a land deal, and laundering part of the funds by wiring the money to Swiss bank accounts.

The couple was indicted on new graft charges earlier this week. Prosecutors said they also took NT$290 million ($8.8 million) in bribes from 2002 to 2005 from a local banker.

Chen may face life in prison if convicted.

Yang recommended that Chen stay in the hospital for an unspecified period of time for further monitoring.

He said they will be examining Chen for his "complaint of angina." Local media had reported earlier this week that Chen complained in court about suffering from the heart condition.

Mainland's first H1N1 flu case

The country is on high alert after the first case of H1N1 flu on the mainland was confirmed Monday and the authorities began isolating people who might have had contact with the patient.

A 30-year-old Chinese man surnamed Bao, who returned from the United States over the weekend, tested positive for A (H1N1) influenza, the Ministry of Health (MOH) told a press conference. He is reported to be in a stable condition.

Bao is the second confirmed case of the epidemic in China. On May 1, a 25-year-old Mexican man tested positive in Hong Kong.

State leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Monday called for stepped-up vigilance and action.

The State Council, or the Cabinet, which held a meeting to discuss further steps to prevent the spread of the disease, said strict quarantine measures must be applied to people, goods and vehicles entering the nation from countries that have reported H1N1 cases.

Epidemic monitoring and reporting systems will be strengthened for early discovery and timely treatment, it added.

Bao, a student at the University of Missouri, flew from St Louis to Tokyo on Friday. He took flight NW029 and landed in Beijing on Saturday before catching flight 3U8882 to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, the same day.

He showed flu symptoms during the domestic flight and after reaching Chengdu, took a taxi to a hospital for a check-up, and tested positive for the virus. He was later shifted to the Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital, the Sichuan health department said.

The cabin crew, Bao's girlfriend and father as well as the taxi driver who took him to hospital have been isolated for further observation.

"Bao's temperature has fallen to normal," Mao Qun'an, MOH spokesman, said Monday. "He is recovering and in a stable condition."

The authorities are "doing their utmost" to locate all the people who had close contact with the patient, including 233 passengers on the Tokyo-Beijing flight and 150 on the Beijing-Chengdu flight.

The government has launched a nationwide hunt, sending mobile phone text messages and issuing public announcements in both Chinese and English to locate the passengers.

Of the 233 passengers who flew from Tokyo to Beijing, 106 were foreigners, including 25 Japanese, said Deng Haihua, a Ministry of Health spokesman.

The Sichuan health department said Monday that it had tracked down 138 of the 150 passengers on the domestic flight and placed them under medical observation.

Experts have urged the government to raise the alert level and enhance quarantine measures at domestic transportation terminals.

But Deng said the confirmed case is "an individual import", and the ministry has not found any patients who contracted the flu in the country.

The current priority is still to enhance tracking, checking and quarantining those who had close contact with the infected, Deng added.

"We have the situation under control."

Guan Yi, a microbiology professor at University of Hong Kong, said: "China is a densely populated country with insufficient public health infrastructure, which means many problems and difficulties will arise along with a worsening epidemic."

For example, he said, the government has to formulate a detailed medicine distribution plan to suit different epidemic situations.

He also suggested the central government have temperature checks at railway stations and long-distance bus terminals in addition to airports.

Hong Kong started temperature checks at its airport on April 28.

Thirty countries have reported 4,694 cases, including 53 deaths, the WHO said Monday. The number of cases on Sunday was 4,379. Mexico has reported 1,626 human cases, including 48 deaths. The United States has reported 2,532 human cases, including three deaths. Canada has reported 284 cases, including one death.

Beijing looks to dampen demand for scarce water

Cheap water may start to dry up in arid Beijing as the city considers raising its price to consumers in a bid to dampen demand.

The city says it needs to pull the plug on heavy consumption because of a five-year delay in a major water diversion project that was to have brought ample supplies to the thirsty city.

"The current prices are not sustainable for a water-scarce city like Beijing," said Professor Wang Dangxian, a researcher with the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.

"Raising the water prices in Beijing has practical needs," said Wang, who said water costs Beijing residents only about one-fifth of the amount paid by residents of the world's other major cities.

As a short-term fix, Beijing brought in around 225 million tons of clean water from Hebei province before the Beijing Olympic Games last year.

The city paid 600 million yuan ($88 million) for the water but did not raise prices for the consumer.

However, the city has been looking for long-term solutions and hopes to import 1 billion tons of clean water each year from the Yangtze River.

Beijing has now heard that the project, expected to be completed next year, will not flow until 2014.

The reason for the delay is thought to be related to the redistribution of water and relocation of residents along the 1,400-km channel that will link Central China's Hubei province with Beijing, Tianjin and neighboring provinces.

Following news of the delay, policymakers have been drawing up plans to conserve water in Beijing, including the expansion of surface and underground reservoirs and the raising of water prices for domestic and commercial users.

Cheng Jing, head of Beijing's water resources bureau, said on Sunday the city will raise its water price this year for the fifth time since 2001 in a bid to promote conservation.

Heavy users such as car-washes and saunas will continue to be charged at a new, higher, rate while industrial users will likely have limits placed upon them.

Other water-scarce cities, including Shanghai and Shenyang, have recently decided to put a higher price tag on clean water.

"Beijing is one of the most water-scarce cities in China, but it has built up one of the most advanced networks of diverse water sources, including surface and underground resources, to safeguard the security of supply," said Zhang Shouquan, deputy director of the Beijing water resources bureau, in an earlier interview with China Daily.

10 killed in road accident in southwest China

A road accident involving a truck and a motor tricycle in southwest China's Yunnan Province has claimed the lives of 10 people, the provincial public security department said Tuesday.

The accident occurred at 8:34 a.m. Monday in Lushui County when the truck loaded with lumber and the motor tricycle with 10 people on board collided head-on.

The motor tricycle then fell about 320 meters off the cliff, killing the six men and four women on board. The vehicle was destroyed. (May 12)

S. China City axes plans to ban pole dancing

DONGGUAN, Guangdong: Karaoke clubs and bar owners in this industrial hub were celebrating Monday after a potential ban on pole dancing was deleted from a new regulation.

Bosses had feared the worst when an initial draft of a new local government rule for entertainment and recreational venues barred the performances.

But the move was scrapped for the final version, which was released at the weekend.

"The initial draft to disallow pole dancing aimed to nip erotic performances in the bud," said an official surnamed Wei at the culture, broadcasting and press bureau. "But we've found no law in China that forbids pole dancing, so we decided to delete the very stipulation."

The new regulation will be in force for five years and the U-turn over the ban will be a massive boon for entertainment companies in the city, which is in Guangdong province, an area already seriously affected by the global financial crisis.

Liang Shao'ai, who runs a karaoke bar in nearby Chang'an town, was ecstatic.

He told China Daily Monday: "Pole dancing is very popular among the youth here. If the performances were not allowed our business would definitely be hit.

"Pole dancing is not an erotic performance. It is a healthy performance as long as the organizer does not make it erotic.

"At least we don't need to reshape our facility or think up new acts to attract customers. You know, the business this year is much poorer than before."

Wei said the regulation has other aspects that will prevent any erotic performances at the city's venues, including a detailed stipulation to make "all balconies transparent" to people on the street outside.

The local government will also launch a crackdown on some 200 unlicensed facilities this year, targeting illegal performances, venues with safety issues and infringements on intellectual property rights by karaoke bars.

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